Mechanostereochemistry

Stereochemistry-in both its static and dynamic variants-has progressed apace now for more than a century to incorporate all aspects of covalent, coordinative, and noncovalent bonding at levels of structure which encompass constitution, configuration, and conformation. The advent of the mechanical bond in more recent times is now providing opportunities for the emergence of new stereochemical tenets and concepts, some of which bear close analogies with those of days gone by in chemistry. Since terminology helps to define and disseminate a discipline, we advocate that the term mechanostereochemistry be used to describe the chemistry of molecules with mechanical bonds.